About the Authors

Dave Beckwith is a Field Consultant for the Washington DC-based
Center for Community Change. The International Downtown Association recently
reprinted his article on "How to Run a Good Meeting."

Orlando Fals-Borda is Professor Emeritus of the University of
Colombia, where he was previously Dean of the Faculty of Sociology for
many years. He began the Foundation for Participatory Research in Bogota
in 1970 and organized the first Latin America meeting on PAR, some 20 years
ago. He recently stepped down as amember of the Colombian National Constituent
Assembly. He has served as President of the REsearch Committee onSocial
Practice of the International Sociological Association and President of
the Latin Council for Adult Education.

Abigail A. Fuller received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado
at Boulder, and currently has a faculty position at Manchester College..
Faced with the prospect of writing a dissertation while plagued with doubt
about whether her work would improve the world, she decided to study sociologists
concerned with that very issue. Her article is based on that study.

Al Gedicks is an associate professor of sociology at the University
of Wisconsin, La Crosse and a longtime environmental/native solidarity
activist in the upper Midwest. He has served as the director of the Center
for Alternative Mining Development Policy and as the executive secretary
of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council. He is the author of The
New Resource Wars: Native and Environmental Struggles Against Multinational
Corporations.

Amy S. Hubbard is assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth
University. She has been involved as an activist at various times in the
anti-nuclear power movement and the Middle East peace and justice movement.
She is currently writing a book on Palestinian-Jewish dialogue on the Middle
East.

Thomas H. Jenkins, Professor Emeritus, Planning and Sociology,
University of Cincinnati, has taught at Harvard and the Architectural Association,
School of Architecture, London; given University lectures at Hawaii, Cornell,
and elsewhere; completed graduate work in sociology at the University of
Chicago and planning at Harvard; and has had professional planning experience
in Chicago, Boston and Cincinnati.

Melissa Jeter recently received her M.A. in Sociology from the
University of Toledo. She has conducted research in the field of African-American
women and housing, and has a background in community-based service provision.
She is currently embarking on a career in community organizing and development.

Sam Marullo is Associate Professor of Sociology at Georgetown
University. He is a co-director of the university's Service Learning Institute
and chairs the university task force on integrating community service into
the curriculum. he is also a member of the Invisible College.

Lisa S. Park is a graduate student in Sociology at Northwestern
University and a feminist activist-organizer. Her research and activism
focuses on the political economy of Asian American and immigrant families/communities,
feminist politics and domestic violence. She has lectured extensively at
universities and community organizations and led numerous anti-domestic
violence training classes.

David N. Pellow is a graduate student in Sociology and Northwestern
University and an active participant in the Environmental Justice movement
at the local and national levels. His research and activism have centered
around the environmental justice and encironmental health movements, community-based
redevelopment, and the recycling industry labor process.

Randy Stoecker is Associate Professor of Sociology, and Research
Associate at the Urban Affairs Center, at the University of Toledo. He
has published in the areas of urban sociology and social movements (including
his recent book, Defending Community) and has been active in the
field of participatory research. He is currently working on a project building
a community network with low income communities in Toledo.

Lee Williams is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University
of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is currently working on his dissertation which
analyzes a number of case studies of participatory and collaborative research
projects from throughout the U.S. to examine issues of power in the production
of knowledge. He is presently a research associate with the Community Partnership
Center at the University of Tennessee, working with Dr. John Gaventa on
a sourcebook on collaborative research aimed at grassroots community organizations
and theresearchers attempting to support them.